Collapsible bucket



Dec. 29, 1953 B. G. MILLER COLLAPSIBLE: BUCKET Filed Dec. 7, 1951 INVENTOR ma l BENJAMIN G MILLER Patented Dec. 29, 1953 UNITED STATI-:s PATENT OFFICE COLLARSIBLE BUCKET 'Benjamin G`.`Miller, Santa. Fe, N J Mx.

vAp.pli `:ation:;December 7, 1951, Serial`N0. 260,394

(c1. 15o-49) y 2 Claims.

This invention.. relates struction, and, more particularly. has` reference toiarticles of. the characterdescribed, soformedas te-:becollapsible when not in. use.

One. important. object of the presentinvention isftoprovide a bucket fallingwithin the category referred to, which will be capable of being col-- lapsedzinto: a nat, highly compact condition so as to: occupy aminimumpfspacewhen not in use. The: desirability'of this feature will be readily apparent,v when one. considers that campers or vacationers may Vhave fa. considerable amount.` of equipment 1; to carry, and. While ordinarily finding azneedlforaybucket to douse fires, etc., usually refrain ifromgincluding a: bucket with their other equipment because of its size and weight.

Anotherimportantobject.isato provide a collapsible bucket. ars-statedv which, ,when collapsed. will assume a; particular.shapevfoundto be. quite convenient g f or packing of, thecollapsed. bucket i into azpocke.t.orl special .pouch used in. association therewith.

Still another importanttobjectis to 'provide a collapsible bucket ofthe character statedwhich.

willfbe capable of being collapsed merely.- by the exertion ofY pull, inopposite directions, upon Aa pairrofdiametrically opposite sidehandles, said. pull .being yeilective, to .transmit movement to the opposite ends of the bucketftowardreach other,

thus to collapse the bucket swiftly-andlea'asily.

.Stilllanother important object. iss-,to providera collapsible bucket as stated which .can be manu.

factured Vat :relatively low cost, but whichwill be.

highlyfdurable andcapable of use over an indeI-lV` nite-y period ;of time.

A1 still furtherr important vobj ect is. to provide.`

azcollapsiblebucket which, whenfull of water, will nothave .tobe held by its bailor. tophandle, the-constructionwhichl have devised being. such as topermitxtherbucket to .be placed upon. a. sup.- porting surface-when ful1,rand leftunattended.

Yet another important. object is. to provide I a collapsiblebucketas. described which, when water isspoured thereinto, will,.,extend .itself .automate ically from a collapsed condition.

VOther vobjects willappear from. the,;follow1ng description, the claims appendedthereto, and.

fromthe annexed drawing, inwhichlike refer.- ence characters designate. like parts throughout theseveral views, andwherein:

Figurel is a side elevational view of acol':

lapsible Ibucket ,formed in .accordance with. .the present invention as'it appears wheninextended.v position, the.do.tted lines .illustrating the.. bucket in a .collapsedpositiom to. bucket or pail con-V0 W inwardly andv issecuredto .thebottom I4 by a bucket, and like thebottom ring,.is of circular.

orannular conguration. The. top andbottom ringsareofequal diameter, andare alignedlongitudinally of the bucket.

A'bottom. Il is'formed'of :flexible material, such as' waterproofjplastic, rubber,` or some-.type of. waterproofed,fabricmaterial. Initially, ,the bottom I4.is formed .to a circular conguration, with. a diameter slightly greater than the diameter ofthe bottom ring I.0. In the manufacture of the bucket, the'bottom .ring is placed upon the mar# ginal portion ofthe bottom I4, after which the peripheraLportion I6 of said bottom is folded upwardly over the bottom ring, in a, manner. well. shownin Figure 3.

Thebucket is formedwith va collapsible, flexible. body designated Ygenerally by thereferencenu-y mera-1 I8,l the bodybeingformed throughout ofla iiexible material. suchashas been referred to. above. In thisiconnection,thebottom |4.is..ap

A propriately to be consideredasa part .of vthe body ing the manufacture. of .the bucket, can belformed from arectangularblank, the opposite edges 20; 22. of. .whichare :lapped and secured 'together y byj: lines of.stitching.24, 26, that extend longitudinally of-.the ..bucket..from end lto .e:r1d.,.tlicreof.'y

The.bottom.,edge v.8 ofthe side wall "I Sis folded l line of, stitching. 30 .extending Lperipherally,y of vthe bottom end of the bucket.

The uppenedgeBZ of the side Wall is extended outwardlyfand idownwardlyover the top ring I2, and .secured '.totsaid Itop ring by a peripheralv line ofstitching 3'4; At .diametrically Iopposite. loca',-v

tions upon vsaidtopedgalthe upperend of'thej` bucket .is cutaway as .at 36.torexpose.diametrically opposite portions-.ofthe upper 'end .frame |21 A,

length of flexible material is then arranged diametrically of the upper end of the bucket, and has its ends extended around the exposed portions of the upper end frame as at 40, the folded ends of said length of material being held against separation from the upper end frame by stitching 42, so that the length of material is formed into a ilexible bail or top handle 38.

If desired, lines of stitching 44 can be extended longitudinally of the bail 3S, to reinforce the same.

I prefer that the bucket also be equipped with a bottom handle 46, which like the top handle can be formed from a suitable length of flexible material, arranged diametrically of the bottom of the bucket, and secured to said bottom by stitching. In some instances, the bottom handle facilitates extension of the bucket for use, and it will be readily appreciated that one can grasp the top handle with one hand while grasping the bottom handle with the other hand, after which a pull can be set up in opposite directions longitudinally of and away from the opposite end of the bucket. Normally, however, the bucket will extend itself automatically to open position when water is poured thereinto.

The invention includes a pair of diametrically opposite side handles generally designated 43, each of which is formed from a short length of flexible material. cated medially between the opposite ends of the bucket, as may be readily noted from Figure l, and in forming the side handles, the lengths oi" material on which they are formed are folded upon themselves, to form tabs 50 extending outM wardly in opposite directions from the bucket, integral with oppositely extended ears 52 secured to the side wall i9 of the bucket.

It will be noted that the handles 48 may appropriately be considered as extending outwardly in opposite directions from the side wall of the bucket along a line normal to a line drawn between the centers of the end frames. Still further, in considering the particular construction of the handles, it will be seen that the ears E2 thereof extend in opposite directions along the side wall of the bucket, along a line parallel to said end frames.

Assuming that it is desired to collapse the bucket, one need only pull outwardly upon the pull tabs D, so as to move said tabs outwardly from the bucket, in directions away from each other, along said line normal to the line drawn between the centers of the end frames.

A pull exerted upon the side handles in this manner will cause those portions of the side wall I9 contiguous thereto to be pulled outwardly of the bucket, and this will cause fold lines 54 to appear in the side Wall of the bucket, said fold lines extending directly from one handle 48 to the other handle, along opposite sides of the bucket. As a result, those diametrically opposite side wall portions intervening between the side wall portions to which the handles 48 are attached will be drawn inwardly of the bucket toward one another in the manner illustrated in Figure 3 so as to fold compactly in the collapsed bucket position.

At the same time, fold lines 56 appear, that are disposed perpendicular to the fold lines 454 (see Figure 2), the fold lines 55 being disposed diametrically opposite one another and being disposed adjacent the upper end of the bucket (see Figure 3). These fold lines are defined along the inner edges of triangular projections 58, the tri- The side handles 58 are lo- 4 angular projections 58 being formed from the side wall portions to which the handles 48 are directly attached, said last-named side wall portions being drawn outwardly from the bucket in opposite directions, as previously referred to herein.

As a result, the bucket will be fully collapsed, the movement of the several side Wall portions being effective to draw the respective end frames toward one another until said end frames are disposed in closely spaced, superposed relation.

The bucket is now ready to be inserted in a pouch 60 having a ap 62, and in its collapsed or folded condition will be no greater in its overall thickness than the combined thicknesses of the rings I0 and l2.

The collapsible bucket has distinct advantages, in that it is capable of being carried upon a camping trip or the like, for general use as a water carrier. It will be readily appreciated that the bucket can be packed compactly with other camping equipment, so as to occupy a. minimum of space. When, however, an occasion arises on which the bucket can be effectively used, as for example when dousing a re, the bucket is extended readily, and will hold a large quantity of water.

Other important characteristics of the article are believed worthy of note, and among these is the capability of the bucket for remaining upright when filled with water, even though not being supported from its bail or top handle 38. Still further, it is believed to be of importance that the bucket is of a simple construction, so

1 as to permit it to be readily manufactured at low cost.

It is believed apparent that the invention is not necessarily conned to the specific use or uses thereof described above, since it may be utilized for any purpose to which it may be suited. Nor is the invention to be necessarily limited to the specific construction illustrated and described, since such construction is only intended to be illustrative of the principles of operation and the means presently devised to carry out said principles, it being considered that the invention comprehends any minor changes in construction that may be permitted within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A collapsible bucket comprising: a generally cylindrical, dexible body closed at its lower end and open at its upper end; annular, rigidly formed, end frames secured to the respective ends of the body, said end frames being aligned longitudinally of the body and extending circumferentially of said ends to stiften the same; and diametrically opposite side handles secured to the body at a location disposed medially between said ends, each of the handles being formed from a length of ilexible material folded upon itself and having its ends secured to and extending in opposite directions along the side wall of the body along a line parallel to the end frames, the intermediate portions of said lengths of material providing pull tabs extending outwardly in opposite directions from the body along a line normal to a line drawn between the centers of the end frames, said pull tabs being adapted to be pulled outwardly of the body in opposite directions along said second-named line, to provide .means effective to draw way from one another diametrically opposite side wall portions of the body disposed contiguous to the respective handles, simultaneously with movement toward one another of other diametrically opposite side wall portions intervening between the iirst-named side wail portions, thus to collapse the side wall of the 'cody eect movement of said stiffened ends longitudinally of the body toward each other into closely spacedl superposed relation.

2. A collapsible bucket comprising: a generally cylindrical, flexible body closed at its lower end and open at its upper end; annular, rigidly formed, end frames secured to the respective ends of the body, said end frames being aligned longitudinally of the body and extending circumferentially of said ends to stiften the same; diainetrically opposite side handles secured to the body at a location disposed medially between said ends, each of the handles being formed from a length of exible material folded upon itself and having its ends secured to and extending in opposite directions along the side wall of the body along a line parallel to the end frames, the intermediate portions of said lengths of material providing pull tabs extending outwardly in opposit@ directions from the body along a line normal to a line drawn between the centers of the end frames, said pull tabs being adapted to be pulled outwardly of the body in opposite directions along said second-named line, to provide means effective to draw away from one another diametrically opposite side wall portions of the body disposed contiguous to the respective hananother of other diametrically opposite side wall portions intervening between the first-named side Wall portions, thus to collapse the side wall of the body and effect movement of said stiiened ends longitudinally of the body toward each other in closely spaced, superposed relation; and end handels secured to and extending diametrically of the opposite ends of the body to draw said end frames away from one another and thereby extend the body for use, said end handles having portions extending across said line drawn between the centers of the end frames, said end handle portions being adapted to be pulled outwardly from the body in opposite directions along said last named line.

Y BENJAMIN G. MILLER.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 254,401 Starr Feb. 28, 1882 483,402 Stivers et al Sept. 27, 1892 616,249 Nickerson Dec. 20, 1898 1,308,263 Smith July 1, 1919 1,670,709 Blood May 22, 1928 1,807,819 Altgelt June 2, 1931 2,150,620 Frost Mar. 14, 1939 2,586,283 Wynn Feb. 19, 1952 

